Western Marxism’s Critique of Capitalism—Taking Gramsci and Lukács as Examples

马克思(1818~1883)的“政治经济学批判理论”是在自由资本主义的条件下提出的，这一阶段随着工业革命的深入，阶级矛盾激化，工人阶级运动处在发展初期。而葛兰西(1891~1937)和卢卡奇(1885~1971)处在垄断资本主义兴起，国家开始干预，意识形态控制逐渐多元化，俄国十月革命成功，工人阶级运动走向成熟的阶段。因此，一方面，葛兰西和卢卡奇希望调整和深化马克思主义的革命理论，将无产阶级的革命和解放事业推向新的高度；另一方面，却又面临着资本主义的力量愈加强悍，意识形态的再生产及其控制力逐渐加强，革命曾经坚实的土壤正在变得松软。因此，他们的理论构建的独特性在于，一种尚未脱离政治经济学批判的创造性与过渡性，这既影响了法兰克福学派社会批判理论和阿尔都塞的结构主义马克思主义，也与后二者构成理论对照。Marx’s (1818~1883) “critique of political economy” was proposed under the conditions of liberal capitalism. During this period, with the deepening of the Industrial Revolution, class contradictions intensified, and the working-class movement was in its early stages of development. In contrast, Gramsci (1891~1937) and Lukács (1885~1971) lived during the rise of monopoly capitalism, when state intervention began, ideological control became diversified, the success of the Russian October Revolution marked the maturation of the working-class movement. Therefore, on the one hand, Gramsci and Lukács sought to adjust and deepen Marxist revolutionary theory, pushing the cause of proletarian revolution and liberation to new heights; on the other hand, they faced the growing strength of capitalism and the increasing power of ideological reproduction and control, which led to the gradual softening of the once-solid ground for revolution. Thus, the uniqueness of their theoretical construction lies in its creative and transitional nature, which remains rooted in the critique of political economy. This not only influenced the Frankfurt School’s critical theory and Althusser’s structuralist Marxism but also stands in theoretical contrast to the latter two.